


Blitz Spirit

by Tenebrais



Category: Sleepless Domain (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:41:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27160615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tenebrais/pseuds/Tenebrais
Summary: A peek into the origins of Team Blitz.Steffi dreams of leading a team of heroes to bring justice and peace to the world. But for now, she has to make do with fighting monsters at night with Ben watching over her.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

“Stop!” Reed shouted as he ran. Not that the thief was listening. Just once, he'd like someone to actually stop. He was gaining on him, but wouldn't be able to keep it up for long – with his wife pregnant with their fourth child, his stamina was pretty drained these days.  
The thief charged through the doors of an apartment building. Reed followed, far enough behind to just see him run up the stairs out of sight. He sighed between heavy breaths.  
_I'm getting too old for this_ , he thought to himself. But who else was going to do it?  
Through the stairs he saw the thief run onto the third floor as he started to climb behind. Crap, he was going to get away. Maybe he could corner him, if there wasn't another way down and he couldn't hide in someone's home.  
He pushed himself to the third floor landing and had to prop himself against a wall to catch his breath. _Well, here goes nothing_ , he thought as he stepped into the corridor.

There, on the floor at the end of the hall, the thief lay unconscious, his hair standing on end. Reed approached cautiously, but the guy was definitely out for the count. How?  
Behind him, he heard someone run out onto the stairwell, and caught a glimpse of pink disappearing out of sight.  
_Well, shit. He we go again._

“Hah! Triple kill!” Steffi cheered as the three bird-monsters fell to the ground.  
“Not bad,” Ben said. “Maybe you're getting better at this.”  
“Of _course_ I'm getting better!” Steffi huffed. “We've been doing this for months now!”  
“Your control could still use work, though.”  
“I don't see you doing better,” Steffi said with her nose in the air.  
Ben gave her a look.  
“Fine,” she sighed, “I'll keep practicing.”  
“Can you sense anything else around?” Ben asked.  
“Hmm,” Steffi closed her eyes and tried to feel the magic around her. “Not yet,” she said.  
“Guess we should get moving then.”

They walked together through the streets. Ben kept alert for any signs of monsters – if something came for him he had no way to defend himself. It wasn't exactly normal for a guy to come out at night with a magical girl unless he was filming her. But Steffi was reckless and foolhardy. He'd seen her get herself injured out here too many times to let her keep coming out without support. He might not be able to protect her, but he could at least be her eyes. And, let's face it, her brain too.  
“Hey, Steffi,” he said. “Where were you this afternoon?”  
“Oh, I was... you know. Around,” she said. Steffi had always been a terrible liar.  
“So when I went to visit you, and your dad said he thought you were with me?”  
“Hey, I think I sense a monster over that way!” She said, running away.  
“S-Steffi! Hey, wait up!”

She couldn't find a monster. Eventually Steffi had to stop trying to evade the questioning.  
“You aren't going out and picking fights again, are you?” Ben asked.  
“I'm not _picking fights_ ,” she said indignantly. “I'm fighting crime!”  
“...by picking fights.”  
“What's the point of having these powers if I don't use them?” Steffi cried. “And it was so cool! You should have seen the look on that cop's face! He was all, whoa, I just got my butt saved by that awesome magical girl!”  
“Somehow, I doubt that,” Ben sighed. “He didn't _actually_ see you, did he?”  
“No, of course not! I think.”  
“Steffi, do you have any idea how much trouble you can get into using your powers on people?”  
“Yes! None! I'm a _magical girl_ , Ben. Everyone knows I'm fighting for peace and justice! “  
“You're starting to sound like a foundationist.”  
“Hmph!” Steffi pouted, crossing her arms.  
“Look, if there were magical girls out here committing crimes at night I'd be all for you doing your vigilante thing, but during the day it's only a matter of time before you get someone hurt.”  
“Oh, really? You promise?”  
“Uh. Promise what?”  
“That you'll support me if there's magical girl criminals!”  
Ben had only said that because there weren't any. What was she playing at? “If it means you're not going to go after normal people? Sure, I'll stick to that.”  
“Hee hee!” Steffi grinned. “It's a deal!”

Heinrich Frohlich opened the front door to find an unfamiliar girl waiting patiently, and sighed. He might never have seen her before, but there was no mistaking who she must be.  
“Ishinomori, huh?” He said.  
“Yes,” the girl replied, and handed him an envelope. Her polite smile expressed nothing whatsoever.  
Heinrich opened the envelope and read the letter inside.  
“What has that madman got himself into this time...” he mused.  
“Papi?” Steffi said, peeking into the hallway. “Wer ist das?”  
“Oh, Steffi!” Heinrich replied, reading through the note. “Looks like we'll be having a guest stay with us for a while. Her name is-”  
“Please call me Forty-Two,” the girl interrupted.  
“...alright then. Her name is Forty-Two. Her father is an old colleague of mine that I owe a big favour, which I guess he's calling in.”  
“What kind of name is _Forty-Two_?” Steffi laughed.  
“One that I chose,” Forty-Two smiled.  
“Don't be rude, Steffi,” her father chided. He turned to his guest. “Anyway, I guess you'd better come in and make yourself comfortable. Can I help you with your luggage?”  
“Oh, I don't have any,” Forty-Two said as she walked in.  
“Wait, you didn't bring _anything_?” Heinrich asked.  
“I had to leave in a hurry.”  
“Damn it, Ishinomori...” he muttered. “Alright, I guess we'll be going shopping tomorrow. I'll sort out the spare room for you. Steffi, would you mind lending Forty-Two some clothes until then? I know you've got an old uniform you don't wear any more.”  
“What!” Steffi shouted. “Why should I have to?”  
“We don't have another choice right now. It's already nine and you'll need to be going out soon.”  
“I appreciate it very much," Forty-Two said. "Thank you for your hospitality.” She gave a polite bow.  
“Um... you're welcome. I'll go fix up the room – Steffi, could you show her around the place?”

Steffi grumbled. “Fine. Welcome to My House. This is the front hall. Here is where people rudely call by in the middle of the- hey, wait!” Steffi finally noticed Forty-Two's purple hair and amber eyes. “You're a _magical girl_!”  
“Am I?” Forty-Two feigned. “I hadn't noticed.”  
“Hey, do you want to join my-”  
“No thank you.”  
“You didn't even let me finish!”  
“You wanted me to join your team. Which is to say, you and that boy. I appreciate the offer, but I am not interested.”  
“But why? And – how do you know about Ben?”  
Forty-Two simply smiled silently.

“Who does she think she _is_?” Steffi ranted. “I bet she doesn't even have a team of her own, why wouldn't she join ours? Ugh! I hate her!”  
“You hate her, but you want her to join the team?” Ben asked.  
“It's the principle! Team Blitz should be bigger! And it's not like _you're_ any good in a fight.”  
“This girl has really got to you, hasn't she?”  
“Well how would you like it if some weirdo turned up at your door, and your dad invites her in and tells you to give her your clothes?”  
“If she was really in need? Sure, I'd help out. You would too.”  
Steffi grumbled.  
“Have you tried talking to her?” Ben offered. “Maybe you just got off on the wrong foot? You'll probably like her once you get to know her.”  
“Anyway!” Steffi said. “Are you ready to beat up some monsters?”  
“So you're just going to ignore that, huh,” Ben said, as Steffi transformed.

Chandra checked her watch. Ten minutes until the barrier went down. She looked over at her target. It sat squat and wide, two stories tall, in its silent vigil over the street. She'd been watching it all night, from her hiding place by a rooftop garden on an opposite building, except for a few moments where she attacked some nearby monsters that might mess with her big score.

Idly, she took a bite of the vegetable she'd taken from the garden. Bleh. She barely tolerated broccoli even when it was cooked.

Five minutes. Her target hadn't moved. It was, after all, a building. You wouldn't know it to look at it, but there was a jeweller's workshop on the upper floor. One of those bespoke places, the only signal it existed was a discreet sign by the front door. Rumour had it that they had natural diamonds in there. Chandra wasn't too sure about that – everyone knew there weren't any natural diamonds left in the city – but a sample would make a great addition to her collection anyway.

“The inner barrier will now deactivate,” the announcement recited. “Please make sure the streets are clear of monsters and take care on your way home.”  
Time to go. Chandra swung across the street and landed on the windowsill opposite. The windows were locked shut, of course, but the upstairs ones weren't so secure. She unsheathed one of her hook-claws and slid it under the window pane. A little jiggling and she'd managed to hook the latch. Carefully, she pulled the window open and climbed in.

It was dark inside without the glow of the barrier, and she didn't dare turn the lights on, but Chandra's night vision had always been pretty good. There was the workbench, up by the next window – the jeweller hadn't left any projects out, it seemed. Ah well, more fun this way.  
A cabinet of little drawers stood next to it. She pulled out a few. Some fiddly little tools, some raw materials, a couple of uncut gems – nothing that really stood out to her, although she did take a little pair of pliers. A desk by the other wall had untidy paperwork on it. Boring! But _under_ the desk was a metal box with a serious-looking lock on it. Now there's something...  
She untransformed, and pulled her pack of lockpicks out of her pocket. She knew her way around these kind of locks. All she'd need was a few minutes.

Some careful scraping and tugging later, the lock finally yielded, and she opened the box. There was some assorted cash in there; Chandra didn't want any of that. But under it, four jewellery boxes.  
Something caught her ear. Very faintly, distantly – the sound of footsteps. Crap, someone must live here! Quickly, she grabbed the first jewellery box and opened it. Inside was a beautiful golden ring, exquisitely decorated, with three diamonds set in. She couldn't tell if they were artificial, but she didn't really care either, it was beautiful. She stuffed the box in her pocket and closed the box – no time to re-lock it, she had to get out of there. She grabbed her picks and transformed.  
She was just managing to get out of the window when the door opened. Before the resident could get a good look at her, The Raccoon grappled the edge of the rooftop and swung out of sight.

From atop the roof, she scanned the streets. Good, no other girls were around right now. A hop across the rooftop and she'd be indistinguishable from any other magical girl heading home after a night on the front. And no one had seen her!

From the rooftop garden, a small purple fly watched, unnoticed.

Forty-Two had already set off for school by the time Steffi left, and she didn't see any sign of her on the way. Good, at least that meant she was out of her hair for once. Steffi had barely had a moment to herself since she moved in.

But that wasn't right, was it? Forty-Two had kept to herself for the most part. After showing her around the house, Steffi had barely seen her. But her _presence_ was everywhere. It was like it wasn't her home any more!  
But it wasn't Forty-Two's home either. She'd just turned up, with nothing but the clothes on her back and nowhere else to go. Her room didn't have any of her stuff in it. She didn't know what snacks she could help herself to. She probably didn't even know how the shower worked. And Steffi had just been a huge butt to her, hadn't she? Under that fixed smile, how was she actually feeling? No wonder she'd been avoiding her.

Steffi punched her leg. This was no way for a hero to treat someone in need! She owed Forty-Two an apology.  
Just as soon as she could find her.

The two girls didn't share any classes – Steffi didn't think she'd ever even seen her before yesterday. She couldn't find her at lunch either. By the time the bell rang at the end of the day, she was starting to wonder if Forty-Two even came to this school, despite wearing the uniform.

She was surprised to find her dad waiting by the school gates.  
“Papi?” She asked. “What are you doing here?”  
“Oh, hi there Steffi. I was... actually here to pick Forty-Two up. We're going clothes shopping.”  
“Oh,” Steffi said. “Well, I haven't seen her all day. Are you sure she's even coming here?”  
“Well, yes. She has been for years.”  
“Well I've never seen her here. And I was looking for her today!”  
“Hello Mister Frohlich,” came her voice from behind.  
Steffi grumbled under her breath. Of _course_ she'd turn up right now.  
“Forty-Two-” she started to say.  
“I am very sorry for troubling you both,” Forty-Two said. “Shall we get going?”  
“Yeah, okay,” said Heinrich. “I'll see you at home, Steffi?”  
Steffi crossed her arms and pouted.

They'd been gone for hours. It was already half past seven, and Steffi was getting hungry. Lunch was a long time ago now. How long does it take to buy some clothes? She could get away with just one outfit 'til the weekend, surely? She'd tried to distract herself with homework, and that was all done now. Her teachers probably wouldn't believe that she'd actually finished it, for once. But her desire to patch things up with her new housemate was running into the limits of her patience.

At long last, she heard the door open, and rushed down to greet them. Forget Forty-Two, what she really wanted now was _dinner_.  
“Papi!” She cheered at her father. “What took you so long? I'm starving!”  
“Starving?” Her dad said. “Didn't you see my note? We already ate, there's food for you in the fridge.”  
He might as well have thrown a brick at her. Mortified, Steffi rushed to the kitchen to see a neatly written note posted to the fridge door. Yep, there it was – her dad had said he was going to eat with Forty-Two in town and to heat her own food. She opened it to find a packaged ready meal.  
Incensed, Steffi slammed the food into the microwave, hammered randomly at the buttons until it turned on, and stormed back to her room. What the hell! How could he _do_ that to her? Leaving his own daughter hungry while he takes some _random_ out shopping! Surely he could have guessed she wouldn't bother to check the kitchen!

Forty-Two quietly stepped in holding a neatly-folded school uniform.  
“What,” Steffi demanded.  
“Thank you for lending me this outfit,” Forty-Two said crisply. She placed the bundle gently on Steffi's desk and quickly left the room before she could outstay her welcome.

After a few minutes, Steffi finally emerged to retrieve her food from the microwave, bringing it back up to her room. She didn't want to see anyone right now. Still grumpy and ashamed about missing Papi's note, she swept the returned clothes to the floor, where all her dirty laundry was kept. Something in the pile crinkled unexpectedly. Looking down, there was a sheet of newspaper tucked between her blazer and skirt.

Steffi picked it up and read the headline.

“MIDNIGHT JEWELRY HEIST”, it read. And below it, “Could the infamous “Raccoon Thief” be a magical girl?”

Steffi's eyes gleamed. All her upset was immediately forgotten. She held the page up high and cheered.


	2. Chapter 2

“I'm really not sure what you're expecting to find here,” said Ben.  
“The criminal always returns to the scene of the crime!” said Steffi.  
“I... really don't think that's true.”  
“Hey, you promised you'd help me with this!”  
“I am helping. By not letting you waste your time.”

Ben and Steffi were exploring the street outside of the jeweller's workshop, but there wasn't much to see. The barrier today was a lurid gold and chrome, making any forensics on the buildings underneath impossible.

“The news said the thief jumped out of the upstairs window and swung onto the roof,” Steffi recited. “Maybe there's a clue up there?”  
She jumped up high, leaving Ben to watch the street below. The jeweller's roof was empty, though – nothing but plain roofing tile. Across the street, some of the flat-roofed houses had gardens on. Steffi thought about them. Could the thief have stopped by there for a snack? No, that sounded stupid. And even if she _had_ gone that way, she could still have gone on to anywhere in the city.  
Maybe Ben was right. This was a waste of time. But she didn't have any better ideas, and right now she was the only person who could chase down this crook.

“Steffi!” Ben called up in a panic.  
Immediately, she was there. “What is it?” She said, ready for action.  
“Over there!”  
Ben pointed toward a small, purple bird of some sort. It looked mechanical, and somewhat abstract.  
“Huh,” Steffi said. “That's not a monster. Some girl's familiar maybe?” She gasped. “Could it have been the _thief?_ ”  
“I don't know about that,” Ben said, still catching his breath.  
“Let's follow it and find out!”

After half an hour of chasing it, it was becoming clear to Ben that the bird was deliberately leading them somewhere. It was always out of reach, but never took the chance to escape when they had to stop so he could catch his breath – Ben might have been fit for a boy his age, but that didn't mean he could keep the pace magical girls could.  
“Are you sure it's not leading us into a trap?” Ben panted. “It's not trying to get away.”  
“I mean, maybe?” Steffi said. “But what could it throw at us that we can't fight our way out of?”  
“Steffi. You _know_ there are monsters out here too tough for you to handle by yourself.”  
“Yeah, fine, I guess,” she pouted. “I don't wanna just give up on it though. It's the only lead we've got!”  
“That's okay, just – please be careful?”  
Steffi nodded her assent. She wasn't _good_ at being careful. That's what Ben was there for. But he liked to believe it helped to remind her that she wasn't actually invincible.

The bird had led them to an unfamiliar part of the city. Somewhere in the south, in the factory district. And there, at last, were the monsters. A flock of them, with fins and rings of eyes, floating lazily through the air.  
“Hah! Piece of cake!” Steffi boasted.  
“Be careful,” Ben warned. “All this metal pipework might throw off your zaps.”  
“Just watch me!”  
Steffi boldly aimed her first zap at a passing floater – and it went way off course, grounding in the nearby pipes. She frowned. Stupid Ben, being right. Okay, how could she handle this? If she got close enough she could probably zap them. Or, if those pipes were on the other side of the monsters...  
It would be a bold move. Daring. Stupid. _Awesome_. She had to do it.  
First, run up the pipe to get some elevation, and jump up to the nearest monster. The athletic boost from being transformed helped a lot here. Now, grab on to it – not tight, and don't let it bite – and let loose an electric jolt. She felt the charge surge through the monster, back toward the pipe, and she used that force to propel her further, launching herself above and behind the rest of its school. She turned in midair, and there they were, all six remaining monsters framed perfectly between her and the metal.  
She released an arc of electricity.

Steffi landed proudly on her feet, as the monsters popped like fireworks. Theatrically, she bowed, and waited for her applause.  
“What the _hell_ , Steffi?” Ben cried.  
She looked up to see him, his butt on the ground and his hair standing on end. She stifled a laugh. “Sorry!” She called over to him. “I really though it would all go into the pipe! Are you okay?”  
“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled. “I'll be fine. Just... let me sit here a bit longer.”

“It is now 2 a.m,” came the announcement. “The inner barrier will now deactivate,” the announcement recited. “Please make sure the streets are clear of monsters and take care on your way home.”  
The gilded barrier dissolved away.  
“Guess we got here just in time,” Ben said. “Any sign of the bird?”  
Steffi couldn't see it anywhere. “It must have got away,” she huffed.  
“So what was that all for, then?” Ben wondered. “It can't have wanted to bring us all this way just to take care of those. And if it was a trap it wasn't much of one.”  
“Maybe I'm just more awesome than it tho-”  
“Wait, hold on, be quiet. Can you hear something?”  
There was a scraping sound from up above, then some shuffling noises. Both looked up, and saw a magical girl in a grey outfit climbing out of one of the factory's upper windows.

“Oh founder Ben it's _her!_ ” Steffi whispered.  
“Are you sure?” He whispered back.  
“Who else could it be? And why would anyone else be in a factory at this time of night?”  
Ben frowned and looked up again. It seemed pretty optimistic. It wouldn't be a good look if Steffi just attacked some girl that happened to climb on the wrong building. Then again...

“Hey!” Steffi called up. “Need any help?”  
The girl at the window froze for a moment. “Nah, I'm good!” She called back down.  
Steffi bounded up on to the roof. “No, really! I insist!” She shouted.  
The girl in grey sprung over the street, threw some sort of grapple at the building opposite and swung across.  
The chase was on.

Chandra scurried over the rooftops. She wasn't used to being pursued like this; she relied on getting away before anyone saw her. She had a bunch of plans for escaping cops and stuff, but this was a magical girl on her tail. And she could jump!  
Her best hope was to break line of sight as soon as she could. There was a narrow gap between rooftops just ahead – over an alley or something. Let the pink girl sail over and slip out while she's doubling back. That'd do it!

As smoothly as she could, as soon as she reached the gap she grappled the corner and swung herself down to ground level. Landed harder than she liked, but nothing she couldn't handle. She broke into a run, and – oh. A wall. Guess this must have been a dead end. Alright, double back, there might still be time-

The pink girl landed on the ground in front of her. She must have had good reflexes too. Chandra's heart was pounding. But it wasn't fear. She'd never had a real opponent like this before, and she liked it.  
“Not bad!” She called. “Gonna take more than that to catch me, though!”  
“You don't know who you're dealing with!” The pink girl taunted back. “Your crime spree is over, Raccoon Thief!”  
“Oh yeah? Who _am_ I dealing with then?”  
“The name's Pop Blitz!” The girl gave her a grin. “And don't you forget it!”

Pop Blitz charged. Chandra ducked under her punch and swung round with a blow of her own – but only managed to hit her false leg. She jumped back and tried to grapple high to get a good swing, but Pop tackled her and grabbed on as she rose up, pulling them both back onto the roof. Both girls scrambled to their feet, and Chandra made a break for it.

Steffi was slower to get back up, by which point the Raccoon was already running. Scheisse, she was going to get away! She broke out into a run, but the thief had gained ground. She couldn't afford an extended chase – she had to get back to Ben. But she still had one more ace in the hole.  
With care, Steffi fired a low-strength electric charge across the roof. Not enough to really hurt her, just enough to break her stride. She watched the thief's legs spasm under her and she tumbled, over... and off the edge of the roof.

Steffi gasped. That wasn't the plan! She hurried down to where the thief had landed. She was a magical girl, that fall couldn't have hurt her too badly... right?

Chandra sat there a moment. Her head was swimming. Stunned first from the jolt, and then from the fall, she was in no mood to move. When she opened her eyes, she saw a very scared face looking down on her.  
“Hey... hey!” Pop Blitz said. “You're awake! Are you okay?”  
“Ugh... yeah...” she mumbled. Then the situation hit her. Pop Blitz had won. She'd been caught. “Oh no... no! Please don't hurt me like that again! I thought we were just having fun! I don't wanna go to jail! That was a real jerk move!” It all came out in a panic.  
“Sorry, I'm sorry!” Pop said. “I didn't mean to throw you off the roof! I just wanted to stun you a bit!”  
“Yeah well you _did_ and it _really hurt_!”  
Pop's shoulders slumped. “Look, how about... just give back whatever it is you stole, and I'll let you go. Then we're even, okay?”  
“Wait, really? You'd do that?”  
“Sure. I don't think I have the power to arrest you anyway...”

Chandra detransformed. Out from under her hoodie she pulled a figurine – it looked like a Heartful Punch figure, but all the pink parts were grey. Some sort of production fault?  
“What, this thing?” Pop said. “No, really, what did you actually steal?”  
“Just that!” Chandra said. “It's cool, okay? They're not all gonna be big heists.”  
“If you're lying to me, I am going to be so very pissed!”  
“Hey, I may be a thief, but I ain't no liar!”  
And with that, she fled. It was a shame, she really liked the figurine. But at least the Raccoon got away free! And the fun was worth it. Pop Blitz was cool, she decided.

“It's not a good idea to be out here by yourself, even with the barrier down,” the magical girl said.  
“I'm not by myself,” Ben said. “Or... I wasn't. I'm out here with a magical girl. She just had... an errand to run.”  
“So you are waiting for her to return?”  
“That's right.”  
“Then I will watch over you until then.” She extended a hand to him. “You may call me Forty-Two.”  
“Oh, I've heard of you!” Ben said, shaking it. “Steffi's told me about you.”  
“I'm sure she has. It is a pleasure to finally meet you, mister Contractor.”  
“Uh... right,” Ben said. How did she know his name? By all accounts Steffi had barely talked to her. “So... do you usually patrol around here?”  
“I go all over,” Forty-Two said. “I can scout a wide range, so I follow my targets.”  
“You scout? Is that a power?”  
“Like this,” she said, holding out her palm. Light arced over it until a small purple bird popped into existence in her hand. She raised it up and it flew into the sky.  
“That was the bird from earlier...” Ben said. “So that was you?”  
“Yes, that's right. Please don't tell miss Frohlich.”  
“Why?”  
“I don't want to intrude on her life any more than I already have.”  
“No, I mean why did you lead us here?”  
“Ah, here she comes!”

Steffi ran up the street. “Sorry for the wait!” she called. “Oh, hi!”  
“Good evening,” Forty-Two said with a bow.  
“Did you catch her?” Ben asked.  
“She... got away,” Steffi said. “But I got back the thing she stole!” She proudly presented the grey figurine.  
“Wait, how did... is there something you're not telling me?”  
“Okay I'm gonna go put this back now!” Steffi clambered up to the high window, that was still open.

Ben sighed, then turned back to the other girl. “Really, though, why did you bring us here?”  
“I wanted to help miss Frohlich. As an apology.”  
“But you haven't done anything wrong,” Ben said. “She should be apologising to you. I know she wants to.”  
Forty-Two stood silent, her expression unchanging.

Steffi climbed back down and rejoined her friend and her housemate. “Justice is done!” She announced. “Let's go home. Which way, Ben?”  
“You're asking me?” Ben said. “We're somewhere in the south of the city, but... I don't know this area. Maybe I should start bringing maps...”  
“Your home is four kilometres in that direction,” Forty-Two volunteered, pointing north-east. “Have a safe journey. I will see you there.”  
She took off with a sprint.  
“Hey, wait!” Steffi called, but she didn't slow down. “Verdammt! Why won't she let me talk to her?”  
“Maybe she's scared of you?” Ben said, wondering aloud. “I can't really imagine that, though. Either way, we should get going. I want to get home in time to get literally any sleep.”

It all happened in slow motion. The monster's grotesque beak tore through the wall like it was paper. Steffi stumbled out of bed and tried to run out of the room, but before she could reach the door a tentacle had snaked into the hole in the wall and grabbed her by the leg. She felt her bones bend in impossible ways, before the whole leg went cold as ice. She tried to flail, or even scream, but she couldn't move any part of her body – she was completely paralysed. Her vision blurred, and her hearing faded.  
So this is what it feels like to die.  
She was dimly aware of flashes of light beyond the hole in the wall. The monster had dropped her, but she could barely feel herself hit the ground. She had very little strength left to process what was going on. And she couldn't hear anything.

Steffi woke in a cold sweat, and sat bolt upright. She took a moment to remind herself of where she was. There was no monster, there was no fight, the hole had been repaired years ago. She was a magical girl. Monsters couldn't hurt her like that now.  
She fumbled around for her tape player. It had reached the end of the tape, and her headphones just beamed silence into her ears.  
The main thing she remembered after that night nine years ago was waking up in the hospital. Her leg had been amputated, but it was the silence that had hurt her the most. She had started screaming any time it got too quiet.   
It was normal after an attack like that to have nightmares for a few weeks after. Maybe even a few months in bad cases. For Steffi they had never stopped. That ghostly silence felt just a hair's breadth from death. She needed noise – music was good, but anything really – just to remind herself she was still alive. She could never feel safe without it.

She turned the tape over and was about to push Play again when a faint noise caught her attention. She strained to hear it, but she heard... sniffing. Like someone trying to cry quietly. And it certainly wasn't her dad.  
Turning the music on just to keep her head clear, she softly crept out of her room and down the hall to the spare bedroom. As quietly as she could she opened the door and peeked in on Forty-Two.

The girl was sitting upright, her polite smile fixed on her face as ever, but it didn't have her usual effortlessness. Her eyes were red and puffy, and the glistening trails of tears traced a path down her cheeks.  
“Hey,” Steffi said softly to her. “Are you alright?”  
Forty-Two sat quietly for a moment as Steffi came over. “I'm fine,” she said shakily. “Thank you for your concern.”  
“But you're not,” Steffi said. “You were crying.”  
Forty-Two said nothing.  
“Do you wanna talk about it?”  
“I didn't think you wanted to hear from me.”  
“Is that why you've been avoiding me all this time?”  
“Yes. I have taken up enough of your life.”  
“No, that's stupid! I shoulda been nicer to you. You deserved better.”  
“I have no right to ask more of you.”  
“Yes you do! I've been a huge butt to you! You don't have anyone and you've got nowhere left to go and you're crying at night and you think I hate you!” Steffi looked her in the eyes. “I'm so sorry. Please let me help you.”  
Forty-Two's amber eyes looked into hers, and slowly, her face started to relax. The polite smile faded. For the first time, Steffi saw the face of the girl who had lost everything and was barely holding together.  
“I'm not very good at talking to people,” Forty-Two said. “Not really.”  
“We don't have to talk,” Steffi suggested. “I can just keep you company if you want.”  
“I... I would like that.”  
Steffi sat down on the bed next to her. Forty-Two closed her eyes, and her lips started to form a faint smile. A real smile. She looked peaceful. And, Steffi had to admit, remarkably pretty.  
They sat there for a while, Steffi listening to the sounds of Team Forte playing faintly through her headphones, watching Forty-Two enjoy a reprieve from the stress of the last few days. At last, she opened her eyes.  
“Thank you,” she said.  
“Look, I know things are tough for you right now,” Steffi said. “But I wanna be here for you, yeah? Don't worry about, like... imposing or anything. You deserve a friend.”  
Forty-Two looked down at her hands. “You're a good person, Steffi.”  
“So are you, Forty-Two.”  
She smiled again. “I think I would like to sleep now. Thank you for talking to me.”  
“Any time. See you in the morning? Let's go to school together.”  
“I would like that very much. I'll see you in the morning.”


End file.
